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Doctor testifies at sexual assault trial

Ronald Arthur Teneycke is lead by sheriffs from the Penticton Provincial Courthouse Tuesday during a break in his trial by judge on charges, including sexual assault and unlawful confinement stemming from an alleged incident in the summer of 2011.

— image credit: Mark Brett/Western News

by
Kristi Patton - Penticton Western News

posted Nov 22, 2012 at 3:00 PM

A doctor testifying at the trial of a convicted sex offender said injuries sustained by the woman he is accused of sexually assaulting most likely came from a violent attack but are also consistent with what defence counsel called “rough sex.”

“It was consistent with force being used to penetrate that area,” said Dr. Jeanne Mace.

Ronald Teneycke is in Penticton Supreme Court facing three charges of sexual assault, a charge of unlawful confinement and a breach of probation. A Penticton woman, who cannot be named, is accusing him of picking her up while she was hitchhiking to Keremeos, doing cocaine with her and then later sexually assaulting her at an abandoned pumphouse in Okanagan Falls in 2011.

Dr. Mace said the woman complained of tenderness in her throat that would be consistent with a hand being held against it and she saw bruising, scratches and abrasions on the woman’s body. As well, her vagina showed tears and abrasions.

Defence counsel Michael Welsh took the opportunity in cross examination to question if the injuries could be a result of “rough sex.” The doctor said they could be.

“You are correct in that it is difficult to tell the difference, but more than likely it is not consensual,” said Mace.

Welsh said evidence would be heard that the complainant took a fall over a concrete meridian after losing her balance. Earlier this week he suggested the woman was so intoxicated from beer and prescription drugs that she could not clearly remember what happened that day. Welsh asked if the woman’s injuries to her body could be from a result of that fall.

“I think it is consistent with the bruises and abrasions but I’m not sure of the scratches,” said Mace.

Welsh then questioned why in the preliminary hearing the doctor provided a different answer. He showed her text where she said the scratches on the woman’s back did have the potential to be consistent with a fall.

“Thank you for asking. I remember afterward, when I was reflecting, and was concerned about my answer on the scratches,” the doctor clarified, adding that the only way the woman could have received the scratches when she fell was if she was naked.

On Thursday, Justice James Williams heard from Const. Bruce Matatall, who played a role in the arrest of Teneycke. When RCMP arrived at Teneycke’s mother’s house, Matatall said the residence was “blacked out.” Several minutes of identifying themselves as police, knocking, ringing the door bell and even yelling into the house after opening the unlocked door went by with no response. The officers called for police dog services to assist and after about 30 minutes went into the house using just their flashlights for illumination.

All three officers had their firearms drawn when Teneycke’s mother came out of a bedroom and did not have time to say much before Teneycke appeared from another bedroom. They instructed him he was being put under arrest for sexual assault and handcuffed him.

Matatall said he was then assigned to attend the pumphouse where RCMP were told the assault took place. Because they were in complete darkness, it took officers three tries before they found the right outbuilding located about 150 metres from a forest service road past the Weyerhaeuser property in Okanagan Falls.

“We walked up to the entrance and observed condom wrappers, a knife sheaf,” said Matatall, adding inside was what appeared to be a homemade sex device. “It was significantly large and looked like it had a black sock on it and bits of a broken condom.”

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